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Neymar targets Champions League glory with PSG after record deal

Neymar at Barcelona's training facility this week
Neymar at Barcelona's training facility this week

Neymar has pledged to help Paris St Germain "conquer the titles" the fans crave after completing a world-record €222million transfer to the ambitious French club.

The 25-year-old Brazil forward, whose release from Barcelona was secured on Thursday afternoon, has signed a five-year deal with PSG.

Owned by Qatar Sports Investments, the Parisians' principal target remains winning the Champions League, a competition in which they have consistently failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals.

Neymar, a Champions League winner with Barcelona in 2015, has now committed to the challenge of landing Europe's top prize with PSG, telling his new team's official website: "I am extremely happy to join Paris St Germain.

"Since I arrived in Europe, the club has always been one of the most competitive and most ambitious.

"And the biggest challenge, what most motivated me to join my new team-mates, is to help the club to conquer the titles that their fans want.

"PSG's ambition attracted me to the club, along with the passion and the energy this brings. I have played four seasons in Europe and I feel ready to take the challenge.

Neymar's lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo deposits the buyout fee at the Nou Camp

"From today, I will do everything I can to help my new team-mates, to open up new horizons for my club and to bring happiness to its millions of supporters around the world."

The Sao Paulo-born striker will meet the press in Paris on Friday at 1330 local time before being formally presented on the Parc des Princes pitch two hours later.

The Parisians' president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Qatari businessman who led the acquisition of the Ligue 1 outfit in 2011, was delighted to get his man.

"It is with immense joy and pride that we welcome Neymar to PSG," he said.

"Neymar is today one of the very best players in world football. His winning mentality, strength of character and sense of leadership have made him into a great player.

"He will bring a very positive energy to this club. In six years, we have built a very ambitious project that has already taken us to the highest level of national and European football.

"Today, with the arrival of Neymar, I am convinced that we will come even closer, with the support of our faithful fans, to realising our greatest dreams."

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